Many organisations promote people based on their technical knowledge and achievements, rather than their people skills. This is known as the ‘Peter Principle’. Therefore, many Line Managers don’t know what great actually looks like when they’re trying to support their team’s development.

Explore the topic of what great looks like with the Line Managers. Ask them what they think a great Line Manager does and what a poor Line Manager does to support Learners during their learning. The answers won’t be all that new to you, but they will encourage Line Managers to set a good example.

According to Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve your Line Managers will forget quickly. The discussion about great and poor Line Management support will have been forgotten within 10 days. Therefore, you need to prod their memory with a 1-minute video reminder, or a 1-page scorecard, or a simple email of the 3 main points discussed.

This Forgetting Curve shows how much is remembered over time and the effect of retention.